Repeating firearm



A118- 4, 1964 w. B. RUGER 3,142,922

REPEATING FIREARM Filed May 4, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet l |www@ P7 mmm..

INVENTOR. WILLIAM B. RUGER Aug. 4, 1964 w. B. RUGER 3,142,922

REPEATING FIREARM Filed May 4. 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 All@ 4, 1934 w. B. RUGER 3,142,922

REPEATING FIREARM Filed May 4, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. WILLIAM B. RUGER BY mail, wtalfi.,

ATTORNEYS United States This invention relates to repeating firearms such as rifles and Shotguns, and has for its object the provision of an improved repeating rearm (hereinafter for convenience called a repeating gun). The repeating gun of the invention includes a receiver, a breechblock or bolt which can be locked in the receiver, a magazine for cartridges and a reciprocable member such as a slide for operating the bolt in the tiring cycle. The repeating gun may be a semi-automatic gun in which case the slide is operated by gas from the barrel, or it may be a manually operated repeating gun in which case the reciprocating member ca n be operated as a so-called trombone slide.

The repeating gun of the invention comprises a frame consisting of a receiver and a removable trigger housing, a barrel on the receiver, a reciprocable breechblock or bolt in the receiver, means operated by the slide for locking and unlocking the bolt, and a cartridge magazine, tubular or box, together with means for feeding cartridges from the magazine into the barrel chamber.

The invention provides a construction and arrangement of receiver, trigger housing, bolt and slide which can be assembled and disassembled rapidly. The slide has a generally at portion reciprocable in a recess of the receiver, together with means which lock and unlock the bolt, and also secure the bolt in its operative position during its forward and rearward travel. The trigger housing provides a bearing surface for the rearward part of the slide and a means for securing the slide in position in the receiver.

The bolt includes means for guiding it as it reciprocates, means for locking and unlocking it, and an inside reciprocable firing pin. The bolt is coupled through cam turningl means to the slide which locks and unlocks the bolt, and the tiring pin comprises means which engages an extension on the slide for securely holding the tiring pin in a rearward position out of contact with the cartridge primer when the bolt is unlocked. It is an important feature of the invention that the bolt is held in a secured position at times by the slide and that the'slide is held in position by the trigger housing. The bolt has arcuate` surfaces which are engaged on one side by cooperating surfaces on the slide which serve as bearings against which the bolt turns and which secure the bolt in position when the slide is in operative position.

The receiver has an elongated opening on its under side which is abutted by the detachable trigger-housing. When the trigger housing is removed, the slidermay then be `removed, therbolt may be moved to a position from which it can drop from the open under side of the receiver.

These and other novel aspects of the invention will be understood after considering the following discussion and accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. l is a side view of a repeating gun of-the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary enlargement of the gun of FIG. l with parts in section;

FIG. 3 is another fragmentary enlargement of a part of the gun of FIG. l;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the parts shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional View at 5 5 of FIG. 3; FIG. 6 is a sectional view at 6 6 of FIG. 4; FIG. 7 is a fragmentary side view ofthe receiver with arent ice the bolt in an intermediate position from whichvit may be removed;

FIG. 8 is a sectional and exploded view at 8 8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a sectional View at 9 9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. l0 is a sectional view at 10-10 of FIG. 3,

FIG. 1l is a perspective of the rearward part of the slide and of the bolt, and FIG. l2 is a perspective of the bolt from the rear.

For brevity and to avoid unnecessary repetition, the repeating gun of the invention will be described as a gasoperated semi-automatic rifle having a tubular magazine and a gas-operated slide. It is to be understood that the gun may be proportioned to function with shot shells, that the slide may have means for operation by hand as a pump repeating gun (rifle or` shotgun) and that the tubular magazine may be replaced with a box magazine in which case the tube of the magazine merely serves as a` guide for the slide. This application is a continuation-inpart of my application Serial No. 106,991, filed March l, 1961.

The embodiment of repeating gun shown in the drawings comprises a one piece stock 1 of the general type usually used on military bolt action rifles, a receiver 2 with attached barrel 3 and a trigger housing 4 vas shown in FIG. l, the stock is secured at the front by a split band 5 secured on the end 6 by the screw 7 or by a screw 51 shown in FIG. 2 as an alternate method. The stock has an attaching block 8 secured thereto by screw 9. The receiver has a tail piece in the form of a hook 12 which engages an angular slot 13 inthe block 8. When the band or the screw 51 is removed, the barrel may be lifted to swing upward and remove the tail piece hook from slot 13 thereby separating the stock from the rest of the gun.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 the trigger housing 4 is connected at the rear to the receiver by the cross-pin- 14 and is connected at the front by a lip 15 which entersl a slot 16 inthe depending lug 17 of the receiver. When the pin 14 is removed the trigger housing may be moved to the rear and the lip 15 disengaged from the slot 16. The trigger housing has several members which need not be shown here such as a cartridge lifter, sear, sear disconnector, etc. which are shown and described fully in my said patent application. Also, box magazines and their operating components are so widely known that their substitution for the tubular magazine will be known to one skilled in the gun art.

The tubular magazine 20 is mounted at the rear in a hole 21 formed in the adjoining parts of the receiver and the trigger housing and is secured at the front end by a pin 22 which enters the block 23. The magazine has the usual spring and follower (not shown) and provides a guide means for the forward part of the slide 24 which is mounted thereover. The forward part of the slide has a sleeve bearing 25 which fits over the magazine and provides a base for the front end of the return spring 26 the rear end of which butts against the receiver and trigger housing.

The block 23 is attached to the underside of the barrel and has a cylindrical chamber 27 connected by duct 2S to the barrel. A piston 29 is mounted in the chamber, one end of which is closed by a plug 30` which may be removed if desired for cleaning purposes. The piston is arranged to strike a hard blow on the end of the slide in a manner well known in gas-operated guns and` drive the slide rearward. The slide is returned to its forward position by the spring26.

The receiver 2 is preferably fashioned from a single block of metal and has depending lugs 31 and 32 having. holes therethrough for the coupling pin 14, an ejection port 33 and recess 34 for the slide handle 35.

The receiver has a longitudinal opening 38 (FIGS. 9

and 10) for the travel of the breech bolt 40. The upper part of the receiver has a curved roof member 41 (FIG. 7) against which the curved top 42 of the bolt (FIG. 9) travels in the reciprocation of the bolt. This member 41 also aids in guiding the cartridge into the lbarrel when a lifter type feed mechanism is used. When a box magazine such as 39 illustrated in broken lines (FIG, 2) is employed, this curved roof member 41 may be omitted, in which case lug 60 could be extended the full length of bolt 40. The receiver is generally hollow internally in view of the longitudinal bore 38, the longitudinal slot 44 for the slide, and the longitudinal grooves 45 and 46. These grooves provide ribs 47, 48 and 49 having forward shoulders 52, 53 and 54 against which the bolt makes locking engagement (described later).

The breech bolt 40 as best shown in FIG. 11 has a central bore for the firing pin 55 which is normally urged rearward by the rebound spring 56 and which as an annular shoulder 57 that limits the forward movement when it strikes the edge 58. The bolt has a locking rib 60 having a surface 61 which locks against the shoulder 52 (FIG. 6), locking rib 62 having a rearward surface shown in FIG. l2 which locks against shoulder 53 and a locking rib 64 having a surface 65 which locks against surface 54.

The bolt 40 has a hole for the pin 66 which traverses a slot in the firing pin to hold it in slidable position in the bolt (FIG. 10), and rib 60 is shortened to permit the bolt to pass under the roof 41. The rib 62 has a slot 67 for the clearance of an ejector 68 (FIGS. 9 and l). The rib 64 is slotted to receive the extractor 70 which is pivoted on the pin 71 (the extractor spring is not shown). The bolt has a cam groove 73 which opens into the bore hole for the tiring pin the purpose of which will be described later. The forward end of the bolt has the usual annular annular recess 74 for the cartridge base.

The rearward part 75 of the slide (FIG. 11) is generally flat and is adapted to slide in the longitudinal slot 44 in the receiver. The flat undersurface 76 travels over and is held in its upward position by the flat top edge 37 of the trigger housing. The curved bearing surface 80 mates with the curved edge of port 33 and may serve as a forward stroke stop for the slide. The slot 80 is for the attachment of the slide handle 35. The rearward travel of the slide is stopped by the shoulder 81 striking the lug 17 on the receiver (FIG. 4).

The inner rearward surface of the slide has a bearing surface 83 against which the curved surface of rib 64 bears preventing lateral displacement of the front of the bolt. The slide also has an attached or an integral projecting member 84 (FIGS. 6 and 1l) which has a further projecting cam lug 85 which operates in the cam groove 73 of the bolt (FIGS. 5, 6 and 11). The cam lug 85 has a concave cut 86 which serves as clearance for the stem of the firing pin ahead of the shoulder 57. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 10 the cam lug extends into the bolt so as to locate the recessed edge 82 on the lug 85 in front of the annular shoulder 57 of the ring pin and prevent the ring pin from moving into contact with a cartridge when the bolt is unlocked. The projecting member 84 of the slide has a rearwardly facing abutment 77 which contacts the lug 78 of hammer '79 when slide is moved rearwardly, thus preventing the hammer 79 from striking the firing pin when the bolt is unlocked.

The projecting member 84 has a rearward bearing surface 88 which makes contact with the cylindrical surface 89 on the bolt 40 as the bolt moves into its closed position. The two surfaces 83 and 88 of the slide perform the important function of holding the bolt in position against the opposite side of the receiver.

FIGS. l, 2, 4 and 6 show the bolt and slide in the forward position with the bolt locked. FIGS. 3, and show the slide and bolt rearward with the ribs 60 and 62 in the grooves 45 and 46 respectively, and with rib 64 in the open center of the receiver. The cam lug has pulled the bolt rearward and, as shown in FIG. 10, the shoulder 82 of the cam lug is holding the firing pin 55 in a safe position by its engagement with the collar 57.

The assembling of the gun to the complete form of FIG. 1, assuming that the stock has been removed, is, of course, the reverse of disassembling and the disassembly from the position of FIG. 2 will be described. The pin 14 is pushed out and the trigger housing 4 is moved rearward to disengage lip 15 from the recess 16 to allow removal as shown in FIG. 4. This illustrates the effective, rapid and simple attachment of the trigger housing 4 to the receiver 2. At this time, the magazine can be removed from the receiver and slid out of the collar 25 of the slide thereby freeing the forward part of the slide. The slide can now be moved downward from the position shown in FIG. 4, out of the slot 44 as shown in FIG. 6. This leaves the bolt in the receiver. It will be noted with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10 that the receiver has a cutout portion 90 in which the rib 62 has clearance when the bolt is in an intermediate position as in FIGS. 8 and 9. Since the slide has been removed, the bolt can have some movement towards the left as viewed in FIG. 8. Therefore by tilting the bolt to the position shown in broken lines in FIG. 8, it will drop through the open bottom of the receiver.

Although the operation of the gun of the invention will be understood by those familiar with repeating guns, supplemented by a consideration of application Serial No. 106,991, which describes the operation fully, nevertheless a brief description of the operation may be helpful. When a cartridge is tired with the gun in the position of FIGS. l and 2, the gas from the barrel strikes the piston 29 which drives the slide 24 rearward. The cam lug 85' operating in the cam groove 73 turns the bolt 40 to the unlocked position and carries it rearward to the position of FIGS. 3 and 10. This action of course ejects the empty cartridge case. The bolt is stopped by engaging the rear wall 92 (FIG. l0) of the receiver and the slide is stopped by the edge 81 striking the depending lug 17 of the receiver. At this time another cartridge is fed from the magazine and held in position, by any suitable means, to be pushed by the bolt into the barrel chamber. The return spring 26 drives the slide forward to the position of FIG. 2 during which time the cam lug 85 operating in the cam slot 73 turns the bolt to the locked position shown in FIG. 6 for a repetition of the firing cycle.

I claim:

l. The improved repeating gun which comprises a receiver having an attached barrel, a trigger housing removably attached to the receiver, a reciprocable bolt having means for locking the bolt in the receiver, a reciprocable slide having a rearward portion mounted in the receiver, means on the slide in operative connection with the bolt to lock, unlock and reciprocate the bolt, a firing pin in the bolt having means in operative connection with the means on the slide to hold the ring pin out of contact with the cartridge when the bolt is unlocked. Y

2. The improved gun of claim 1 in which the bolt has a cam groove, the means on the slide is a projecting cam lug in operative engagement with the cam groove, and the means in operative engagement with the means on the slide includes a shoulder, said projecting cam lug extending through the groove in engagement with the shoulder on the firing pin. v

3. The improved repeating gun which comprises a receiver having an attached barrel, a trigger housing removably attached to the receiver, a reciprocable bolt having means for locking the bolt in the receiver, a reciprocable slide having a rearward portion mounted in the receiver, means on the slide in operative connection with the bolt to lock, unlock and reciprocate the bolt, the receiver having an opening below the bolt closed by the attached trigger housing, a bearing surface on the inside of the slide in contact with the bolt which aids the receiver in holding the bolt in position as it reciprocates, longitudinal ribs on the bolt which abut on the receiver to lock the bolt, grooves in the receiver in which the ribs travel when the bolt reciprocates, recess means in the receiver intermediate the ends of bolt travel, at least one of the ribs being proportioned to engage the recess means, means for removing the trigger housing and slide, said bolt being normally held in the receiver by the ribs but when set to a position With the proportioned rib in the recess the bolt may be dropped through the open bottom.

4. The improved repeating gun of claim 3 in which the means on the slide is a cam lug on the inside of the rearward portion which engages a cam groove in the bolt to lock, unlock and reciprocate the bolt and another bearing surface on the inside of the slide, one bearing surface being forward of the lug and one being rearward of the lug, and curved surfaces on the bolt which engage the two bearing surfaces.

5. In a repeating gun having in combination a receiver, a reciprocable bolt in the receiver and a slide in operative connection with the bolt the improvement which comprises, longitudinal grooves and ribs in the receiver, the ribs having bolt-locking surfaces facing forward, the bolt having longitudinal ribs operable in the grooves in the receiver and having locking surfaces at the rear which engage the bolt-locking surfaces of the receiver when the bolt is locked, a cut out portion in one of the longitudinal ribs in the receiver, one of the ribs on the bolt being shortened to enter the cut out portion when the slide is removed to permit the bolt to be turned and removed from the receiver.

6. In a repeating gun having in combination a receiver, a reciprocable bolt in the receiver and a slide in operative connection with the bolt the improvement which comprises, a reciprocable ring pin in the bolt having a shoulder near its rearward end, a cam slot in the bolt through which the shoulder of the firing pin can be reached, a cam lug on the slide which operates in the cam slot, and means on the cam lug to engage the shoulder and hold the ring pin in a safe position When the bolt is unlocked.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,110,837 Swebilius et al Sept. 15, 1914 1,849,982 Howland Mar. 15, 1932 2,506,982 Williams May 9, 1950 2,817,917 Colliander Dec. 31, 1957 2,932,108 Hughel et al. Apr. 12, 1960 2,941,450 Crittendon et al lune 21, 1960 2,967,367 Ivy Ian. 10, 1961 Patent No.. August lI 1964 William Bo Ruger lt is rhereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that .the said Letters Patent should read as E corrected below.

Column lg line 5ov after ""moved;H insert and when the slide is )removed 1 column 3, line l8 for was" read has l line 3o, strike out annular,1 second occulflcenceo Signed and sealed this 8th day of December 19641.

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWDER EDWARD J BRENNER itesting Uffeer Commissioner of Patents UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE `CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.. 3,142,922 August 4, 1964 William B, Ruger It is 4hereby certified that error appears in the .above numbered patent requiring correction and that .the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column l, slide is removed, line 36, strike out "annular",

line 56, after ""moved insert and when the column 3, line 18, for "as" read 4 has,-;

second occurrenceo (SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD J. BRENNER ERNEST W. SWIDER Commissioner of vPatents itesting Gfficer 

1. THE IMPROVED REPEATING GUN WHICH COMPRISES A RECEIVER HAVING AN ATTACHED BARREL, A TRIGGER HOUSING REMOVABLY ATTACHED TO THE RECEIVER, A RECIPROCABLE BOLT HAVING MEANS FOR LOCKING THE BOLT IN THE RECEIVER, A RECIPROCABLE SLIDE HAVING A REARWARD PORTION MOUNTED IN THE RECEIVER, MEANS ON THE SLIDE IN OPERATIVE CONNECTION WITH THE BOLT TO LOCK, UNLOCK AND RECIPROCATE THE BOLT, A FIRING PIN IN THE BOLT HAVING MEANS IN OPERATIVE CONNECTION WITH THE MEANS ON THE SLIDE TO HOLD THE FIRING PIN OUT OF CONTACT WITH THE CARTRIDGE WHEN THE BOLT IS UNLOCKED. 